14 candidates to run in Burkina Faso election, first since longtime leader forced from power

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – Officials in Burkina Faso say that 14 candidates will take part in next month's election, the first since the longtime leader in this West African nation was forced from power.

Blaise Compaore served as president for nearly three decades until a popular uprising last year. Next month's vote is expected to be the most free and fair since the country's independence from France in 1960.

A new electoral code adopted by the transitional parliament excludes everyone who backed the former president's proposal to amend the constitution so that he could seek another term. Candidates of the former ruling party also have been declared ineligible.

According a statement issued Thursday, two candidates out of the 16 have been declared unfit for the Oct. 11 vote.